Hello! I had this written a while ago, but life got in the way. To just give you an example of what happened, I lost one family member and two close family members all within two weeks in December. Life has calmed down a little and I was able to find time to finally upload. I'm so sorry and I can't thank you all enough for sticking with me and my crazy schedule. There is a poll up on my profile and I really need/want your opinions on what to do with the story concerning length and possible breaking it up into multiple stories. Shout-out to RedFuryanDireWolf, EspressoPatronum13, shelbyatrahan12, Indie Witch, Lord Morsus, and aquarius89 for favoriting and/or following my story! Enjoy!
Links to the songs:
Legend: Speaking in thoughts to wolves or Edward
Thinking/Dreams
Emphasis on a thought/word
**** swear words
"Comm"
Text Message
Disclaimer: I don't own anything Transformers or Twilight, all I own is Katherine, students that were hurt/died in the attack, and the plot.
Find him now.
"Hello, Autoscum. The Decepticons thank you for your pet and allowing us to use him. He has been surprisingly helpful in our experiments. Now, we need another test subject and we believe his daughter will be as helpful as him."
I didn't spare Starscream a glance as my father moaned behind him, "Leave 'er aloneā¦.don't...don't t-touch 'er. Hide will...pr'tect 'er."
My hand flew up to cover my mouth as tears pricked my eyes when the mutated Dorito whirled to face my father. I couldn't stop the shriek that tore from my throat when I watched my father's leg get yanked by fingers as round as his thigh and he screamed in agony. I barely heard Starscream warn the 'Bots that he would get me one day as I continued to stare at my father.
The video stopped and I couldn't hear anything over the pounding beat and rushing wind surrounding me. It wasn't until Carlisle and Ratchet's holoform stood in front of me that I saw their mouths moving with worry and slight panic marring their perfect faces. Slowly, I realized that the pounding was the blood rushing through my body and the windstorm I heard was my own panicked breathing. Someone pulled me close and, faintly, I recognized the smell of Ironhide's holoform that always smelled of gunpowder, oil, and forests.
My fists clutched the shirt on his chest as his hands rubbed my back and petted my hair, "I'm so sorry, sweetspark. I'm so, so, so sorry."
He was the only thing helping me ground myself to reality and I finally let the wail escape as my legs dropped me. Hide fell with me and held me in his lap as I continued to cry out the pain and horror of what I just saw. He was being tortured and experimented on, but he was still protecting me like he always did. My wailing had fallen to hiccups as Ironhide continued to rock me in his arms and hummed softly to me.
He set me on my feet for a minute and I rubbed my eyes before looking up at the 'Bots surrounding the table, "Find him...please. Don't let him die."
Optimus crowded over Ironhide's shoulder, who had pulled me up to his spark, "I promise, little one, that we will do whatever it takes. You have my word as the Prime and as your friend."
I gave a weak smile before snuggling close to my family guardian as he pulled a blanket out from his subspace and wrapped it around me. I fell prey to my own dark thoughts as I sat awake for hours. What are they doing to him? What will happen if the 'Bots don't find him in time?
A hand rested on my shoulder and I didn't have enough energy to jump as I turned my head to face Edward, "Don't think like that, Kat. You need to keep hope. The Autobots will find him, I know they will. Don't lose your faith, promise me, Katherine."
Nodding just to get him to leave, I curled back up against Ironhide and pulled the blanket over my head. I knew in my gut that Edward was right, but I couldn't stop thinking about how my dad looked. He had never looked that bad, even after Qatar and Mission City. It was disturbing to see my dad look so weak and vulnerable when I always thought of him as being as strong as a mountain.
My head popped out of the blanket as I felt Hide tip backwards and he shifted me until I could see. It took me a moment before realizing he was laying on his berth and I blinked at him in confusion, "Let's talk, sweetspark. And no hiding in the blanket."
I couldn't help the pout that formed when he guessed my plan, but I sighed and moved until I could look at him without straining my neck or back. I wrapped the blanket around me to keep me warm since the Bots all kept their rooms colder than the rest of the base, "Whatcha want, Hide?"
One of his fingers rubbed the top of my head as he studied me, "I know you're upset, Kat, but we are doing everything we can to find your father. Trust me and Optimus and the others. We have every possible person on this that we can spare. Even most of the Bots are searching. Bee and Chromia mostly excluded since they've been on guard duty. But they've been searching whenever they get a chance."
I slumped and rest more against the hand holding me, "I know, Hide. I'm just so scared and worried about him. It was hard losing my mom, but it was kinda expected because of her cancer. I can't even imagine losing my dad. I don't want to lose him!"
Hide maneuvered me around until he was hugging me to his spark and I relaxed against the warmth, "Oh, sweetspark. Don't worry about Will. He's almost as strong as you. He always says you're the strongest person he knows. We will get him back, no matter what. I swear this to you on my spark and the spark of my sparkmate. Promise me you will try to not worry. We didn't show you that video to cause this. We wanted you to know before Galloway spilled it and we wanted to be the ones to tell you."
Nodding, I snuggled into the hard metal and began dozing off. His fingers lightly brushed my spine and I relaxed further until the blackness of dreams took over.
I opened my eyes and blinked in confusion at the field surrounding me. I could see the forest on the edges of the field until I saw the mountain behind me with a large cave opening, "Hello? Is anyone there?"
No answer came back and I took a couple cautious steps towards the cave mouth. I could see a faint red light at the far end of the tunnel, but everything else was an inky black. I called out again before freezing when I heard Chromia's voice coming from the red light, "-atherine!"
I stepped closer while calling, "Mia? I can't hear you! Where are you?"
No reply.
My heart sank with worry and I forced myself to take that last step until I joined the blackness of the cave. My left hand felt around hesitatingly until I felt the craggy rock wall and I proceeded with caution since I couldn't see where my feet were landing. I squinted my eyes as I got closer to the light and it grew brighter with each step until I stepped through into a room a ton bigger than anything I had ever seen.
My eyes flickered around the large chairs and tables surrounding me before following some dark blue and red-brown stains. I gasped in shock at seeing my father laying on a table with Mia and Hide hung up in chains beside him. Quickly covering my mouth, I checked to make sure I was alone before sprinting to them. I pushed and shoved each Bot as I couldn't reach my father, but neither responded.
Mia began to stir finally as panic choked my throat and her once brilliant eyes were a dull blue with no spark. Before either of us could speak, booming steps grew closer and louder to us, "Run...Katherineā¦.ru...nnnn," and then her head fell to her chest and her spark sputtered out. Tears filled my eyes as I screamed.
"NOOOOOOO!"
Someone grabbed my arms and I thrashed against them in my panic, "Mia! Hide! Daddy! Get away from us! NO!"
"Katherine! It's me, Mia! Hide is right here too, sweetspark! Open your eyes, please!"
My eyes flashed open and saw my guardian's face above me. I couldn't stop the sob at the spark of life I could see and I threw myself at her face, not even caring if she didn't catch me. Her hands wrapped around me as she held me close and I didn't need to look to see that she was sharing a worried glance with her sparkmate that was standing out of my field of view. I'm surprised I didn't dent her at all considering I was using as much strength as I had, which wasn't a lot compared to the Bots or the Cullens, but it was a fair amount for a human.
Chromia slightly rocked me as my panicked cries calmed and I fought to control my racing heart and pulse. Once my breathing was mostly back to normal, besides the occasional hiccup, my guardian pulled me away to look into my eyes, "Do you want to talk to us or Optimus about your dream?"
Prime was my therapist, so I should talk to him about it, but Mia and Hide are my guardians and it wouldn't feel right to not tell them. My hesitation must have shown on my face because Mia quickly soothed me, "It's okay if you want to talk to Optimus first, Kat. We won't be upset about it and we'll wait for whenever you're ready to tell us."
She smiled at me and I glanced at Ironhide to see him giving me a genuine smile, so I gave one back before being set on my feet. I made my way towards Prime's room because I knew he would be in there if Hide and Mia were already ready for bed. At least one of them would be with Prime if he was still out and about. It didn't take me long enough to reach the door and I hesitated outside of it. I could hear movement inside and I didn't want to interrupt if he was having private time with his sparkmate. But my guardians would just drag me right back here if I didn't talk to Optimus.
Sighing, I raised my fist and let it fall against the giant door three times. I didn't have to wait long before booming footsteps echoed behind the door and I glanced up through my lashes as I stared at the ground. I could see Elita looking over in curiosity from the berth as Prime stood above me, "Katherine, what brings you here at this hour?"
Tears were stinging my eyes as I quietly pleaded, "Do you have a minute...or two...to talk?"
I silently gnawed my lip as I waited with bated breath for him to respond, "Of course, Katherine. As I've told you many times, my door is always open to you. It doesn't matter if it's night or day. I shall be back, Elita."
He gently scooped me up before making the trek to his office because there was more privacy there than we would get anywhere else. After being carefully set onto the chair on his desk, he pulled a blanket from his subspace and gingerly wrapped it around me. I hadn't noticed till then that I was shivering from the cold of the hallways and the chill left from the nightmare. Optimus creaked as he sat down and he was silent, but I could feel his unspoken prompting.
Pulling the blanket tighter around me, I also curled my legs up underneath me as I played with the hem of the blanket, "It seemed so real, Op-timus. Not just a...a dream. I really thought it was happening. I-I-I didn't realize it was a dream, not till I wo-woke up."
Prime's holoform was suddenly in front of me and I could barely see him through how blurry my vision was. I didn't realize how bad I was shaking until he pulled me into his arms and held me tight, but not tight enough to hurt me. He quietly clicked and crooned in Cybertronian to try and calm me, which slightly worked. Throughout hiccups and tears, I managed to tell him about my dream and everything that I had been feeling since I saw the murder. How I was so scared for my life and the lives of all my loved ones, how I hated the bullying and never being good enough despite being there with them in the school shooting, how I missed my mom and hated myself for not being there when she needed me the most.
Everything just came spilling out and I couldn't stop the words from escaping until sniffles broke up my sentences when I got to discussing my dad and my absolute terror that he wasn't going to make it back. He rubbed a hand along my back as he held me, remaining silent until I began to hyperventilate because I couldn't get enough air in through my cries.
He pulled back to stare into my eyes and his thumb gently brushed a tear off my cheek, "Katherine, little one. You are so strong and independent with so much love to give, which is a blessing and a curse. You want to bear your burdens alone and help everyone else. You can't do this. It isn't healthy for you or for your family and friends. We are all here for you no matter what you need, but you need to let us help. We all care for you so much and it tears us apart that you won't let us help you. That is what we are here for, whether you need advice or a friend or anything else."
We chatted for a few more minutes as he worked to calm me down before he dropped the bomb on me, "I want you to see me everyday of break, Katherine. There are so many trials you are facing and I feel you need someone to talk to. Will you agree you this?"
I was quiet as I thought carefully. I knew he was right, but was I ready to accept that I needed help? I picked at a loose string on the hem of my shirt while he patiently waited. I'll never understand how he was able to be this patient, but it had to help when dealing with politicians and Galloway. Finally, I released a huff of air and met his gaze once more, "You're right. I need the help. I'll come see you everyday, Optimus. Will you talk to Elita, Mia, Hide, Ratchet, Prowl, and Jazz about all of this? They deserve to know everything."
Nodding, he smiled with the warmth of the sun as he thawed the icy fingers from my nightmare fully away. Dismissing his holoform, I was scooped into the hand of his real form and we were both lost in our thoughts as he deposited me at the hallway that led to the room I share with my dad and Epps. He started to turn away before I stopped him with a whisper.
THIRD P.O.V.
Optimus found his spark clenching at the agony staring at him from watery, honey eyes and the broken plea nearly brought him to his knees, "I just want my dad back, please."
He tried to find the words that would soothe the young child, but she disappeared down the hall before he could. Knowing she wouldn't hear, he couldn't help responding, "I will do everything in my power to bring him home safe and sound. I promise you, Katherine, that we will not abandon him."
His mind was made up and he commed a few Bots to meet him in the med bay. Striding with purpose, he was only beat by Ratchet before Prowl, Jazz, Elita, Ironhide, and Chromia showed as well. He knew they were all worried about why he called them for a secret meeting at 3 A.M. Optimus quickly locked the med bay down before he even began speaking, "I have been talking to Katherine for the past four hours. She asked me to speak to you all about everything her and I have discussed in our sessions, especially this last one."
The other Bots were as silent as death as they listened to their leader reprise everything he had discussed with their young human. Once he was done speaking, he played the memory clip for them of her when he dropped her off minutes before they all met. Not surprisingly, Ironhide punched the wall as soon as Optimus had finished and Ratchet couldn't bring himself to snap because he was close to doing that himself at hearing everything that had been going through Katherine's mind. They were none stupid and they all knew that she was probably feeling this way, but it was different thinking it instead of knowing for sure.
Lost in their thoughts, none of them spoke for a moment until Elita eventually broke the silence, "What are we going to do, Optimus?"
Her sparkmate released air as his frame oozed worry and exhaustion before he straightened up as the leader they all knew him to be, "We will do everything we possibly can to rescue Will as soon as we can. We will ask for volunteers to search more and to try and trace the video back to the source."
All of the Bots immediately volunteered themselves and Prime gave a small smile at the loyalty to their human friends, "Ratchet, Elita, I need you two to guard Katherine if Bumblebee, Chromia, and Ironhide cannot be near her. Starscream called her out and I will not take any chances of the Decepticons getting anywhere close to her. Jazz, Prowl, I need you two heading the team of tracing the video back to their location. Chromia, Ironhide, I want you two running patrols as often as you can without neglecting Katherine. She is already struggling with some abandonment issues and I do not wish to add to those. Get some rest and we will start later today."
